Yang Zi, the mainland Chinese actress who recently received the Bai Yulan Award, sparked controversy on August 17th when she shared a grid of vacation photos on her Weibo without blurring the faces of the background pedestrians, raising concerns about the “right to privacy of bystanders.” Following the backlash, she swiftly deleted the post.
In the series of photos shared by Yang Zi on her personal Weibo account, she captioned, “Had a great time, saw many people.” Her studio later reposted with a playful remark that these were vacation snapshots from the sea of humanity. While only one of the nine photos was a personal selfie, the rest prominently featured pedestrians with clearly visible faces in bustling backgrounds, often marked with the Live tag, presenting a vivid depiction of outdoor architectural areas and vibrant market scenes.
After the photos were published, the focus of netizens quickly shifted from admiring the landscapes and beautiful shots to concerns over privacy rights.
Some internet users and bloggers raised questions, pointing out that with the massive following of celebrity fans, sharing photos of ordinary people in public without blurring their faces could potentially lead to privacy breaches. Especially in crowded public spaces, failing to mask individuals could cause discomfort to some pedestrians and potentially infringe on their right to control their own image.
While some fans argued that Yang Zi’s shared photos captured a down-to-earth “tourist perspective” of the lively scenes without the need for overinterpretation, the escalating judgment and controversy online prompted her to promptly remove the travel post. Subsequent posts from Yang Zi’s team or studio have notably shifted focus to ensure compliance, evident in recent shares of stylish street fashion shots or series where individual portraits take precedence, cleverly avoiding dense backgrounds of strangers.
Interestingly, another actress, Dilireba, had faced similar scrutiny from netizens in the past due to comparable incidents. With the wisdom gained from experience, she recently strolled the streets of Hong Kong during the promotion of the movie “Kung Fu Soccer” and shared snapshots of her daily life, attentively pixelating the backgrounds of all pedestrians. This conscientious approach earned her acclaim from fans as a “standard example.”